Autumn/Winter Nails ... Deeps

Bonjour!

As we're now officially in the last month of Winter (hurray!) I thought I'd shop my nail polish stash ... can't see the weather turning any time soon so the deeper hues will be with me for a while longer ...

Shot on location in the freezing cold back garden - got to get the right ambiance ... even if my fingers felt like frostbite was setting in ...!

From left to right ...

Barry M Matte Nail Paint in Crush - love the smooth finish of this polish - great for a grungy looking change from high gloss!

Marks & Spencer Limited Collection Quick Dry Nail Polish in Storm - my newest addition, you can see my NOTD here.

Maybelline Forever Strong in Dark Denim - had this one for ages, forgotten how much I like it -should use it more often before it dries up! 

Barry M Gelly Nail Paint in Watermelon - not the easiest to apply (I find) and not the most long lasting but I love the colour - so does my daughter, she keeps pinching it from me!

Nails Inc Polish in Hanover Square - a freebie with good ol' Glamour magazine - lovely rich colour, reminds me of a shiny aubergine!

Will you be rocking the 'deeps' for a while yet or are you champing at the bit to bring out the Spring pastels?

Jen x

A Very Merry NOTD Christmas ...!

Bonjour!

I honestly don't know where these last few weeks have gone and can hardly believe that Christmas Eve is here again ... !  I've had this week off work and have spent the last few days in what seems like a whirlwind of food shopping, cleaning and wrapping presents ... following by the custom of falling asleep on the settee every evening ... who's with me?  Distant memories of the Christmas Eve office parties of my youth with free booze provided from 10.30am - resulting in drunken antics involving various pieces of office equipment and riding up and down in the lifts (don't ask!) ... before we all headed off to a nightclub for the afternoon hired out exclusively for ourselves to dance the day away ... some of us would then make our way home nursing a hangover before the evening had even started ... and some would stay out and just carry on (as you do!) ... those were the days!

It's nice to be able to finally sit down though (for however brief a time!) and write up a quick post to wish you all a Very Merry Christmas!  And ... couldn't let this opportunity go by without a quick festive NOTD ...

Barry M Glitterati Nail Paint - Rockstar ...

I actually had no intention of buying any new nail polishes but when I was in Boots last week (buying my Christmas present from the hubby - best way to do it sometimes!) Rockstar just called to me and that was that ...!  This is my favourite of the Glitterati collection ... the other polishes are lovely but this one has something about it which grabbed me - must be the grey theme!

It's positively jam packed with different shades of  'reasonably' sized glitter  - I'm not so bothered about the 'great big chunks' variety for myself so this is perfect for me.  I think my camera was rather dazzled so had difficulty picking up on all the individual specks but you get the idea - maybe a proper macro lens is in order!  I'm not going all out bling with my Christmas Day outfit (do I ever!) - so it'll be good to wear something a bit sparkly on my nails.  Only problem is ... with the mountain of potatoes and vege I have to peel for tomorrow's dinner I'll have to get the hubby heavily involved to avoid Rockstar glitter in the sprouts ... ahh Christmas dinner problems!

This was only meant to be a quick post and I've waffled on for England so apologies if you're still with me!  I've only managed a handful of posts during December and am actually 'champing at the bit' to get back to a regular blogging routine. Plus ... I have a tonne of products to review and am running out of storage space ... my friend at work pointed out that I have a problem! (Thanks Amy!)

What will you be wearing on your nails this Christmas? Will there be any glitter in your sprouts? And once again Merry Christmas to all!


Jen x

Autumn/Winter Nails ... Neutrals

Bonjour!

I don't know about you but when it comes to nail polish I try to hang onto my Summer brights for as long as possible and since we were lucky enough to have that bit of Indian Summer not too long ago they stuck around for that bit longer than usual!  I tend to ease myself into the new season gradually (and somewhat reluctantly since I'm a proper 'Summer lover'!) moving onto neutral polishes,  and eventually the deeps!  Of course, you can obviously wear whatever the hell you want on your nails throughout any season and depending on your mood but this is just how I tend to roll ... generally!

So here's what I've picked out from my current stash - different depths here but I consider all these to be in the 'neutral zone' ...

From left to right...

Nails Inc - Basil Street
Maybelline Forever Strong - Taupe Couture
Leighton Denny - Supermodel
Barry M Matte Nail Paint - Mocha
M&S Limited Collection Nail Polish - Putty

And here they are on ... as always a rushed paint job (on a Sunday and I had to get a chicken in the oven shortly after - as you do!) ... but you get the general picture ...

Basil Street is the palest and reminds me of Baileys Irish Cream - usually need three coats with this one.  Haven't used Taupe Couture for ages and it's a deeper shade than I remembered but still has that flat brown/neutral vibe.  Supermodel is quite new and one of the thinnest polishes  I've tried but very easy to apply.  Mocha is unfortunately the least long lasting but I still love the matte effect.  Putty is my newest edition (you can see my NOTD here).

Must invest in a couple of those 'nail wheel' contraptions I know some of you use for these types of posts - would certainly make things easier when there's a Sunday dinner to cook!

What are your favourite Autumn nail polishes?  Do you cross over with neutrals or dip straight into the deeps?

Jen x

NOTD - Barry M Matte Nail Paint in Mocha & No7 Matte Nail Effects

Bonjour!

This is the second of my Barry M Matte Nail Paints - in Mocha  - you can see my NOTD in Crush here.  I love the colours/finish of these Barry M Mattes but the wear time is not so good, so with my recent £3 off Boots voucher I bought the No7 Matte Nail Effects Topcoat (it only came to £4) ...

I took these pictures on two separate occasions and on both days the sun decided to make a welcome appearance - on and off mind! As with Crush, Mocha is not a true matte but has a bit of a sheen to it (as in the first pic), which I don't mind at all. Easy enough to apply but you do need two coats and drying time is average.  It doesn't last without a topcoat and chipped after a day. It's a good laid back, deep neutral shade though and really does look like one of those chilled iced mocha drinks that go down so well in the Summertime - I now have Summertime on my mind - can't come soon enough!

Anyway - the bottom pic is after having applied the No7 Matte Nail Effects topcoat - although it looks opaque in the bottle it goes on clear.  As you can see Mocha is now a proper 'flat matte' with virtually no light bouncing off the nail. With this topcoat the polish lasted two days before chips - so an extra day's grace - still not fantastic but better and to be honest I'm beginning to wonder whether anything will ever last on my nails more than a few days anyway - maybe if I become a lady of leisure someday and employ a cook, cleaner and bottle washer - yeah right!

I know many of us associate nail polish with glossy finish but I do like this effect for a change, it takes it to a whole new level of grunginess don't you think? The No 7 Matte Nail Effects Topcoat is meant to make any polish matte (not just the ones that are meant to be anyway!) - so you could have a field day (should you have the time and patience) messing about with all your different polishes just to see the difference!

Have you tried the Barry M Matte Nail Paints or the No 7 Matte Topcoat?  What do you think of matte polishes?

Jen x

NOTD - Barry M Matte Nail Paint in Crush

Bonjour!

I've been intrigued by the Barry M Matte Nail Paints for a while now but faffed around (true to character) picking 'em up and putting 'em back (as you do) and mulling over the problem of a topcoat etc  before I bit the bullet the other week when they were on offer in Boots. I ended up with a couple of the Mattes and this one is 'Crush' ...

*Note the collaboration shot just above with sleeping pooch!*

I haven't used a matte polish before but this was easy enough to apply. I needed two coats as just the one was streaky. Drying time was about average without my usual super-quick dry (but obviously glossy) topcoat.   Unfortunately it didn't last too well once on - just over a day before some wear on the ends - but my hands are constantly in and out of water when I'm at home. My young friend at work said it lasted approx. two days for her before she had to go over her nails again with another coat to patch things up. Neither of us used a topcoat. I found it very easy to remove, however, if that's any consolation! ;)

Regarding the finish, if we were talking Dulux I'd say it's more of a  'soft sheen' rather than 'flat matt'. The colour of a good red grape with a smooth leathered look to it (reminds me of those dark red Dr Martens I'm still lusting over!) there's a slight edgy vibe going on don't you think?

So ... despite the 'not so good' wear time I am quite taken with this polish - it has a different look to it which appeals to me and is reasonably priced at £3.99 (mine were £3 each on offer) . Going 'topcoatless' is not a practical option though so I've bought a matte topcoat this weekend which I'll be trying out shortly. Will keep you posted.

Have you tried the Barry M Matte Nail Paint? What did you think?

Jen x

A January Haul ... ?

Bonjour!

I don't know if you can call this a 'haul' as such - more of a sporadic gathering of bits of over the last few weeks.  I didn't have much in the way of presents this Christmas as my plan was to treat myself in the sales... unfortunately I didn't manage to bag that many official bargains so ended up just picking up things in dribs and drabs ...

Can you believe this is all I picked up from the half price beauty gifts in Boots?

Managed to get these leather pumps from Next though - a bargain at £12 ... but that's it for the 'proper' sales!

Because I'd been so good (or bad - whichever way you look at it!) sales-wise - I picked up some bits from Boots last week - all on offer mind ...!

Barry M Matte Nail Paints in Crush and Mocha (buy one get 2nd half price)
Max Factor Wild Shadow Pot in Burnt Bark (reduced to £3.99)
L'Oreal Miss Manga Mascara (on offer at £5.99)
17 Peep Show Mascara (an old favourite - couldn't resist as all 17 mascaras were £4!)

A few cheapie t-shirts and scarf from Primark (the stripey one was only £2) ...

And then when I went to Sainsburys last week all this lot was on offer so I satisfied my domestic yearnings and treated myself - go me! (Actually can't wait to try out the saute pan - as I say go me!).


So what did you get in the January sales? Bet you did better than me!

Jen x

Party Nails Are Go ...!

Bonjour!

Party season is in full swing and Christmas is just round the corner (slight panic as I type that!) so thought I'd share a few polishes I'll be favouring over the festive period. After all - if a girl wants to bling up her nails what better time ...?

Here are my picks left to right ...

Barry M Textured Nail Paint in Duchess
17 Fast Finish Nail Polish in Navy Glint
Seche Nail Lacquer in Iconic
Beauty UK Glam Nails in Gun Metal
Elf Nail Polish in Chic Confetti

I  had to move to the window to take the pic below as the light was fading fast and ended up waking someone up who had been fast asleep in his chair - sorry pooch!

Below pic taken in the evening with lights on ... you'll have to excuse the state of my cuticles but I had just completed  a marathon of potato and vege peeling for dinner! Blogging and 'mum' duties do not always go hand in hand!

17 Navy Glint and Beauty UK Gun Metal are from last year - you can see NOTD posts here and here. I received Seche Iconic in a beauty box last year and gave it to my mum but she's let me have it back for the moment! Elf Chic Confetti (would look great over another colour - can't wait to try that out) and Barry M Duchess  are a couple of sparklies I bought recently as I was getting into the Christmas spirit ...

Can't decide which to use for Christmas Day? Which is your favourite? What will you be wearing on your nails?

Jen x

Oh Haul - It's Been A Long Time!

Bonjour!

Apologies for sparseness of posts over the last few days - kids were on holiday, I was in London with the family over the weekend  - then kids were back to school yesterday so things were slightly manic! My youngest brother even commented to me on Skype the other night (from France) that I hadn't posted since last Thursday - so ... he does have a sneaky look at my blog now and again ...!

I had popped (just typed 'pooped' then but corrected myself  luckily!) into Boots on a couple of occasions since my Spend Ban recently ended and come out empty handed - I thought there must be something wrong with me! Also as you may know I hadn't really spent any of my recent birthday money! Anyway - I got to do some shopping with my daughter last week and took full advantage of the Boots 3 for 2 offers which are on at the moment. I'm not going to waffle on about each product as I'll probably do separate reviews ...

Barry M Gelly Hi Shine Nail Paints in Grapefruit and Watermelon/Maybelline Forever Strong in Hot Salsa  or is it Rose Salsa - says both on the bottle!

Bourjois Little Round Pot Blusher in 'Rose The'/ Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection Concealer in Medium and Dark 

Lee Stafford Flat Iron Protection Shine Mist/Tresemme Texture Style Backcomb Dust/John Frieda Luxurious Volume Dry Shampoo

Our local Sainsburys also had their 25% off TU clothing and footwear earlier in the Easter hols ...

... I grabbed these sandals - hoping for the promise of summer (no way can I show you my feet in them at the moment though - some major renovation work needed in that area!). The pumps will be great with my skinny jeans and also for work. Bargains!

And last but not at all least ... my Mum gave this to me the other Sunday - she said it was a belated Easter present as she didn't get me an egg and would be ideal for my impending trip to London. She's an absolute star - don't you think?

Gatineau 16 Piece Little Luxuries Collection ...

Gatineau is a French Premium Salon Brand available from QVC - so far I'm really impressed with everything I've tried from this range so looking forward to dipping into this lot! The cute pink 'carry case' is jam packed with lovely products and as you can see there's a really good selection.  Thanks again Mum! xx

So - that's me done on 'hauls' for a while - looks like I've spent a lot I know but for the amount of products I've managed to get don't really think I've done bad - plus I know for a fact what I've spent on all this lot is far less than some of my young friends at work would spend on one night out!

Have you taken advantage of any current offers? Have you hauled?

Jen x